1. Field
Various embodiments of the present disclosure relate to an artificial muscle, and more particularly, to a biomimic artificial muscle capable of mimicking characteristics of a human muscle that is in charge of movements of a human body.
2. Description of Related Art
An artificial muscle refers to a drive material or apparatus having similar drive characteristics and physical attributes as a muscle that is in charge of movements of a human body. The ultimate purpose of such an artificial muscle is to make it as similar as possible to an actual muscle of a human body, so that the artificial muscle can be used as a substitute for the actual muscle.
Currently, there are two types of artificial muscles: those that use oil pressure, and others that use SMA (shape memory alloy).
An artificial muscle that uses oil pressure has excellent response characteristics but it needs large pneumatic equipment in order to provide high performance, and thus it cannot be miniaturized.
On the other hand, an artificial muscle that uses SMA (shape memory alloy) offers great power output, but since its operation is based on transformation by heat, it may react sensitively to external temperatures. Therefore, this type of artificial muscle cannot provide excellent resistance to environments, and it is difficult to be precision-controlled, making it impossible to realize precision movements.
Therefore, there is a need for research and development on a new type of artificial muscle that can be miniaturized and that can realize precision movements.